axel_2078 Posted August 27, 2004 Report Share Posted August 27, 2004 Ok, what's the real differences between Mandrake and Linspire? I realize they are different distros, but does anyone have any experience with Linspire? Is Mandrake more powerful, or are they both about the same? I have both of them and I'm trying to figure out which one would be best to run as my primary OS. Any and all inputs welcome. [moved from Software by spinynorman] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darkelve Posted August 27, 2004 Report Share Posted August 27, 2004 if you do a search for 'Lindows' on this board, you will find several discussions (among which one *really* long discussion, might be interesting). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest WetWired Posted September 1, 2004 Report Share Posted September 1, 2004 Quite frankly, Linspire is one of the biggest hunks of shit I've seen, thus far. It's bloated, slow, ugly, and you have very little (easy) control over your system. It's almost as bad as, dare I say, Windows. The "CNR" (Click N Run) warehouse is a joke. They claim to update it at least once a week. I've seen it go for months without having a single program added or updated. Support is pathetic. Finding applications NOT listed in the CNR is next to impossible. Mandrake vs. Linspire? There's no comparison. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phunni Posted September 1, 2004 Report Share Posted September 1, 2004 Click n run will cost you a subscription fee even though (last time I looked) much of the software available on it is available freely. Still I guess you do get a nice easy install of stuff. Other problem is that by default Linspire only gives users a root user and encourages them to use that. This simply isn't a good idea - especially on a newbie distro Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gowator Posted September 1, 2004 Report Share Posted September 1, 2004 I use it on my laptop, it was the first distro to install sucessfully! However I have a lifetime subscription which cost me $100 Also click n run is free if you purchase linspire... and is the best and most reliable way to install software I have seen for beginers. After all that I dont like it becuase its It's bloated, slow, ugly, and you have very little (easy) control over your system. It's almost as bad as, dare I say, Windows. I also agree there is no comparison but for different reasons... in terms of installation ease, click n run vs apt or urpmi and other stuff like wireless it wins hands down on ease... but i dont like it .....for me. that doesnt mean IMHO its bad, Id give it to my mum .... however its boriong and for those who dont want to learn linux.... from your question ... which is the most powerful ? well mandrake is more powerful more easily and the fact your asking the question rather than which is simplest/easiest would lead me to think you will prefer mandrake! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
axel_2078 Posted September 3, 2004 Author Report Share Posted September 3, 2004 Anyone else? What do the rest of you think about it? All inputs welcome. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darkelve Posted September 3, 2004 Report Share Posted September 3, 2004 You could try LinspireLive ... that's a free download. If you are curious about something, a LiveCD is one of the best ways to do a first test, getting your feet wet without going to deep into the water. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gowator Posted September 3, 2004 Report Share Posted September 3, 2004 It would be easier if you said your expectations.... in effect linux is linux... a distro is just a set of applications and the kernel bundled together and with time and patience Linspire could be replaced piece by piece to become Mandrake or any other distro.... Its just a metter of what YOU want out of it.... Everyone who tried it can give their opinion of what the differences are to them but that isnt necasarrily what it means to you. :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
axel_2078 Posted September 3, 2004 Author Report Share Posted September 3, 2004 Yes, that is true and I realize this. I'm just curious about it and want to know what people who've used it think about it to give me a better idea. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gowator Posted September 3, 2004 Report Share Posted September 3, 2004 Well in the absense of others I think I can sum it up... we had the discussion here 1001 times :D much as many mandrake users might not like it it is simpler to install and simpler to add click n run than urpmi...( but you already did that so its not so relevant to you anymore...) Its very stable but stead.. I would say boring!!! If you wanna surf the internet, write office apps and have a reasonably powerful machine and are determined NOT to learn about linuix or computers in general its a great distro. Seriously Id give my mum linspire cos she has no interest in computers but email and internet would be useful for her. If you wanna tweak and customise then its a pain. It traded easy usability for this and if you do mess with it, its more complicated than mandrake becuase of the layer of 'fudgeware' between the user and the OS. There are philosophical debates (is linspire good/bad for linux) and technical like is running as root acceptable... but mainly these debates are unlikely to be of any interest to the 'average linspire user'. Like Darkelve says, try the livecd is alays a good way to preview a distro.... look at say the discussion on the default desktop just to see the differences of opinion in say Suse and Mandrake desktops... but the changes in linspire go much deeper. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
axel_2078 Posted September 3, 2004 Author Report Share Posted September 3, 2004 I think I'm just going to stick with Mandrake 10.0, as long as you guys keep helping me out with my newbie questions. :D I also think it would better benefit my knowledge and skills in preparation for my Linux+ exam. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gowator Posted September 3, 2004 Report Share Posted September 3, 2004 ahh ... if you said you were studying for linux+ I would have told you to go for Mandrake straight away..... as an extra tip though.... whenever you can try and use non-distro-specific tools not the Mandrake wizards... This is either the trusty command line... or tools like Webmin... this way everythnig you learn is equally applicable to other distro's too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
axel_2078 Posted September 3, 2004 Author Report Share Posted September 3, 2004 That's good advice, thank you. What is webmin? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gowator Posted September 3, 2004 Report Share Posted September 3, 2004 Its a browser based config tool. It installs a minserver (special small web server) which you can then connect to on https://localhost:1000 You can then add valid users and valid addresses to connect or leave the default as root and local. this then has modules for almost every config task possible and these are the same on ALL distro's (and even BSD and other *nix) the sophistication of them varies by task ... but if you use these it will bue the same whatever distro your using.. It also is a bit more manual/hands on... it takes a more steering approach where you might need to do some reading but then simpifies the config task... The only part I'd miss is probably the RPM module becuase urpmi works much better ... but for the rest its a good bet... it also acts as monitor of sorts, you can view logs, see which services are up or down etc.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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